Multiplex live group communication

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, from a first group member of a group, a request to initiate a multiplex live communication; receiving, from the first group member, a selection of one or more second group members of the group; by the computer server, sending a notification to each of the selected second group members, the notification comprising an invitation to the selected second group members to join a multiplex live communication with the first group member; receiving, from one or more of the second selected group members, an indication that the respective second selected group member has accepted the invitation to join the multiplex live communication; and adding each second user who has accepted the invitation to the multiplex live communication.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/195,834, filed 28 Jun. 2016.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to communication over a network.

BACKGROUND

A social-networking system, which may include a social-networkingwebsite, may enable its users (such as persons or organizations) tointeract with it and with each other through it. The social-networkingsystem may, with input from a user, create and store in thesocial-networking system a user profile associated with the user. Theuser profile may include demographic information, communication-channelinformation, and information on personal interests of the user. Thesocial-networking system may also, with input from a user, create andstore a record of relationships of the user with other users of thesocial-networking system, as well as provide services (e.g., wall posts,photo-sharing, event organization, messaging, games, or advertisements)to facilitate social interaction between or among users.

The social-networking system may send over one or more networks contentor messages related to its services to a mobile or other computingdevice of a user. A user may also install software applications on amobile or other computing device of the user for accessing a userprofile of the user and other data within the social-networking system.The social-networking system may generate a personalized set of contentobjects to display to a user, such as a newsfeed of aggregated storiesof other users connected to the user.

SUMMARY OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments a communication system may enable two or moreusers to be members of a group in an online social network. Such a groupmay require the users to register with the group or otherwise officiallyjoin the group to be considered members of the group. In particularembodiments the communication system may be a social-networking system.The communication system may provide an interface and network forconducting multiplex live group communication. Such multiplex live groupcommunication may also be referred to as a group chat. Members of anexisting and pre-defined group on the online social network mayparticipate in a group chat that is unique to that group. Only membersof the group may participate in the group chat. Registration within thegroup may be based on that group's privacy settings.

The multiplex live group communication may take place via a group chatinterface that is accessed through an interface associated with thegroup. The group chat interface may allow group members to join the chatand become group chat participants. The group chat interface may alsoallow group chat participants to leave the group chat, to post commentsto the group chat, to mute the group chat, to record the group chat, orto do any other suitable action within the group chat. The group chatmay comprise audio and visual data or simply audio data, according togroup chat participants' preferences.

The embodiments disclosed above are only examples, and the scope of thisdisclosure is not limited to them. Particular embodiments may includeall, some, or none of the components, elements, features, functions,operations, or steps of the embodiments disclosed above. Embodimentsaccording to the invention are in particular disclosed in the attachedclaims directed to a method, a storage medium, a system and a computerprogram product, wherein any feature mentioned in one claim category,e.g. method, can be claimed in another claim category, e.g. system, aswell. The dependencies or references back in the attached claims arechosen for formal reasons only. However any subject matter resultingfrom a deliberate reference back to any previous claims (in particularmultiple dependencies) can be claimed as well, so that any combinationof claims and the features thereof are disclosed and can be claimedregardless of the dependencies chosen in the attached claims. Thesubject-matter which can be claimed comprises not only the combinationsof features as set out in the attached claims but also any othercombination of features in the claims, wherein each feature mentioned inthe claims can be combined with any other feature or combination ofother features in the claims. Furthermore, any of the embodiments andfeatures described or depicted herein can be claimed in a separate claimand/or in any combination with any embodiment or feature described ordepicted herein or with any of the features of the attached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example user interface for initiating a multiplexlive group communication.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example user interface for initiating amultiplex live group communication.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example user interface for initiating amultiplex live group communication.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example user interface for initiating amultiplex live group communication.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example interface for conducting a multiplex livegroup communication.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example interface for conducting a multiplexlive group communication.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for initiating and conducting amultiplex live group communication.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example network environment associated with asocial-networking system.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example social graph.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example computer system.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments a communication system may enable two or moreusers to be members of a group in an online social network. Such a groupmay require the users to register with the group or otherwise officiallyjoin the group to be considered members of the group. In particularembodiments the communication system may be a social-networking system.The communication system may provide an interface and network forconducting multiplex live group communication. Such multiplex live groupcommunication may also be referred to as a group chat. Members of anexisting and pre-defined group on the online social network mayparticipate in a group chat that is unique to that group. Only membersof the group may participate in the group chat. Registration within thegroup may be based on that group's privacy settings.

The multiplex live group communication may take place via a group chatinterface that is accessed through an interface associated with thegroup. The group chat interface may allow group members to join the chatand become group chat participants. The group chat interface may alsoallow group chat participants to leave the group chat, to post commentsto the group chat, to mute the group chat, to record the group chat, orto do any other suitable action within the group chat. The group chatmay comprise audio and visual data or simply audio data, according togroup chat participants' preferences.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example user interface 100 for initiating amultiplex live group communication over a communication system. Userinterface 100 may be a group member interface hosted by a socialnetworking system. In particular embodiments the communication systemmay be the social networking system. The group member interface may bean interface for a particular group of users of an online socialnetwork. A “group” on the online social network may be a virtual placefor group communication and for users to share common interests andexpress their opinions. Groups of this nature allow users to virtuallycome together via the online social network around a common cause, issueor activity. A group may be made for any purpose, from members of achurch group or athletic team, to serious topics on politics and worldevents, to more lighthearted purposes. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a group on the online social network may exist called“Quadcopters.” Its purpose may be to create a virtual space for itsmembers to discuss anything related to quadcopters and remote controlleddrones, such as how to build and program home-made quadcopter, or forgroup members to share recent video footage that they have capturedusing their drone or quadcopter. Another example of a group on theonline social network may be a group called “Badly Stuffed Animals,”where group members may share pictures of bizarre taxidermy animals. Tocreate a group, a user may decide whether to make the group public,closed, or secret. If the group is public, some aspects of the group maybe public. If the group is closed or secret, some aspects of the groupwill be closed to the public. Table 1 discusses example group privacysettings on the online social network.

TABLE 1 Example Group Privacy Settings Public Closed Secret Who canjoin? Anyone can join or Anyone can ask to Anyone, but they be added orinvited join or be added or have to be added or by a member invited by amember invited by a member Who can see the group's Anyone Anyone Currentand former name? members Who can see who's in Anyone Anyone Only currentthe group? members Who can see the group Anyone Anyone Current andformer description? members Who can see the group Anyone Anyone Currentand former tags? members Who can see what Anyone Only current Onlycurrent members post in the members members group? Who can find thegroup Anyone Anyone Current and former in search? members Who can seestories Anyone Only current Only current about the group on membersmembers Facebook (ex: Newsfeed and search)?

To become a member of a group, a user may first be required to join thegroup. Once the user has joined, she may now be considered to be a“group member.” Group members may post content to the group via userinterface 100. The content may include text, photos, videos, hyperlinksto websites, files, or any other suitable content. When a group memberposts content to the group, the other group members may each receive anotification letting them know of the new post. New posts may also beincluded in a newsfeed or stream of each group member.

User interface 100 may include top bar 110, title bar 120, action bar130, post composition bar 140, and post display area 150. Top bar 110may include a back icon, a search field, a menu icon, or any othersuitable element. Title bar 120 may include a title, photograph, andother suitable descriptive language or elements. Action bar 130 mayinclude icons that group members may select (e.g., by clicking, tapping,or otherwise selecting) for performing various functions, includingjoining or leaving the group, adding new members to the group, searchingposts within the group, or performing any other suitable action. Byselecting group chat icon 131, a group member may initiate a multiplexlive group communication (e.g., group chat). Post composition bar 140may be an area for group members to post comments, photos, videos,files, website URLs, or any other suitable media to the group. Commentarea 150 may be an area where group members' posts are displayed. Groupmembers may comment on posts in comment area 150. Comments may comprisetext, photos, videos, hyperlinks to websites, files, or any othersuitable content.

As an example and not by way of limitation, a group may exist called“Quadcopters.” Its purpose may be to create a virtual space for itsmembers to discuss anything related to quadcopters and remote controlleddrones, such as how to build and program home-made quadcopter, or forgroup members to share recent video footage that they have capturedusing their drone or quadcopter. The group may be a “closed group,”which may mean that anyone can ask to join or be added or invited by amember of the Quadcopter group. Further, anyone may be able to see thegroup's name, who is in the group, the group's description, and thegroup's tags. Only current members may be able to see what other memberspost to the group, and only current members may see stories about thegroup on a newsfeed or stream on the online social network. Groupmembers may be able to post content to the group, for other groupmembers to view. As an example and not by way of limitation, a usernamed Jordyn Lee may be a member of the Quadcopter group. In order topost to the group, see other group members' posts, interact with anyicons on top bar 110, title bar 120, action bar 130, post compositionbar 140, or even to access user interface 100, Jordyn must first be amember of the Quadcopter group. Once a member she may post content, suchas a video of the latest footage she captured with the quadcopter shemade herself. Jordyn may also select group chat icon 131 to initiate amultiplex live group communication.

The multiplex live group communication may be openly joinable accordingto the predefined privacy of the group. If the group is public, someaspects of the group chat may be public (e.g., anyone can view andparticipate, or alternatively only group members can participate, butanyone can view and post comments associated with the chat). If thegroup is closed or secret, some aspects of the group chat may be closed(e.g., only group members can participate and post comments in thechat). Group membership may be a prerequisite to join a group chat. Auser may be able to join a group and join a group chat while the groupchat is underway. The group hosted by the communication system orsocial-networking system may define the audience of the group chat.

The group privacy settings or configuration may define who can see thegroup chat. Group membership may define who can engage in the group chat(e.g., participate in the group chat with audio/visual input, or onlymake comments). The initiator of the group chat may define when thegroup chat begins and ends.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example user interface 200 for initiating amultiplex live group communication. FIG. 2 may be a group memberinterface that is displayed after a group member has selected group chaticon 131. User interface 200 may include exit icon 201, camera-flip icon202, video display area 203, and continue icon 204. The exit icon 201,when selected, may exit the group member from user interface 200. Inresponse to the group member selecting exit icon 201, user interface 100may be displayed. Camera-flip icon 202 may toggle the active camera(e.g., the camera that is capturing what is being displayed on thescreen) between the user-facing camera and the rear camera (e.g., thecamera that is not the user-facing camera). Video display area 203 maydisplay images captured by the active camera. The active camera maydefault to the user-facing camera, so that video display area 203 mostlikely displays an image of the user's face and upper body. Videodisplay area 203 may include any suitable instructions or information.The group member may select continue icon 204 to proceed with the groupchat. When continue icon 204 is selected, the multiplex live groupcommunication may begin. At this point, the social-networking systemthat hosts the online social network may send notifications to the groupmembers, notifying them that a group chat in underway. The group membersmay have the option to join the group chat by selecting the appropriateicon to join the group chat. Alternatively, the user may be presentedwith another user interface to select group members to invite to thegroup chat, as discussed below.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example user interface 300 for initiating amultiplex live group communication. User interface 300 may be displayedin addition to or as an alternative for user interface 200. Userinterface 300 may include the same components as user interface 200(e.g., exit icon 301, camera-flip icon 302, video display area 303,continue icon 305), with the addition of group member selection icons304. Using group member selection icons 304, the group member whoinitiates the group chat may select which group members to invite to thegroup chat. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user Coreyis a member of the Quadcopters group and wishes to initiate a group chatwith particular members of the Quadcopters group, he may select groupchat icon 131. In response, user interface 300 may be displayed. A listof group member selection icons 304 may be displayed on user interface300. Each group member selection icon may represent one of the membersof the Quadcopters group. If the Quadcopters group has 50 members, then50 group member selection icons 304 may be displayed, each representinga single member. Corey may view all 50 group member selection icons 304by scrolling down user interface 300 (e.g., by swiping, scrolling, orany other suitable method). Corey may select as many group memberselection icons as he wishes, including “everyone in Quadcopters.” WhenCorey is satisfied with his selection, he may select continue icon 305to proceed to the group chat. In response to the selection of continueicon 305, the multiplex live group communication may begin.Alternatively, in response to the selection of continue icon 305,notifications may be sent to group members notifying them of the groupchat invitation. The multiplex live group communication may begin assoon as one additional group member joins the group chat.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example user interface 400 for initiating amultiplex live group communication. User interface 400 may be displayedin addition to or as an alternative for user interface 200 and userinterface 300. User interface 400 may include the same components asuser interface 300 (e.g., exit icon 401, camera-flip icon 402, videodisplay area 403, continue icon 405), with the addition of chatdescription region 404 or chat purpose selection icons 405. Using eitherchat description region 404 or chat purpose selection icons 405, a groupmember may describe the purpose of the group chat or simply select apurpose. This may be helpful because when group members receivenotifications about the group chat, they may be informed about thenature of the group chat, and may thus be able to make a more informeddecision about whether to join the chat or not. As an example and not byway of limitation, if a user Corey is a member of the Quadcopters groupand wishes to initiate a group chat with particular members of theQuadcopters group, he may select group chat icon 131. In response, userinterface 300 may be displayed. Corey may proceed with selecting whichgroup members to invite to the group chat as described above. When Coreyselects continue icon 305, user interface 400 may be displayed, andCorey may be able to describe the purpose of the group chat in chatdescription region 404, or select a purpose for the group chat byselecting one of the chat purpose selection icons 405. In particularembodiments, chat purpose selection icons 405 may comprise recent groupchat purposes, popular group chat purposes, pre-defined group chatpurposes, or any other suitable group chat purpose. When Corey issatisfied with his description or selection, he may select continue icon406 to proceed to the group chat. In response to the selection ofcontinue icon 406, the multiplex live group communication may begin.Alternatively, in response to the selection of continue icon 406,notifications may be sent to group members notifying them of the groupchat invitation. The multiplex live group communication may begin assoon as one additional group member joins the group chat. The abovediscussion of FIGS. 3 and 4 are examples only and are not necessaryembodiments of this disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example interface 500 for conducting a multiplexlive group communication. Interface 500 may include title bar 510, videodisplay area 520, participant icons 521, action bar 530, and commentsection 540. Title bar 510 may display the group's name and indicatethat a group chat is underway. Title bar 510 may also display any otherrelevant information, such as the time the group chat started, or thepurpose of the group chat. Video display area 520 may display a videostream of at least one group member who is participating in the groupchat. In particular embodiments, the communication system may detectwhich participant is speaking by analyzing the audio wave forms that arepicked up by each group member participant's computing device. As anexample and not by way of limitation, Corey may be speaking, and thecommunication system may detect that the audio activity coming fromCorey's computing device is more active than the audio activity from anyof the other devices. In response, the communication system may displaya video stream the images captured by Corey's active camera in videodisplay area 520. If another group member participant begins speaking,the communications system may switch displays to whichever participantis speaking. For example, if Corey asks Jill a question about how shebuilt her quadcopter to hold a heavier camera, and Jill responds, theimages displayed in video display area 520 may switch from the imagescaptured by Corey's active camera to the images captured by Jill'sactive camera at the moment when Jill begins to speak or after a briefdelay (e.g., 1 second). Participant icons 521 may display the groupmembers who are participating in the group chat. Each participant icon521 may correspond to a group member. If there are too many groupmembers participating to adequately display all participant icons 521,the communication system may select which participant icons to display.The selection of which participant icons to display may depend on thegroup's settings, the preferences of users, or the settings of thecommunication system. For example, the communication system may displayparticipant icons corresponding to the participants who most recentlyspoke, who have spoke the most, or who are the group or chatadministrators. Alternatively, the communications system may displaydifferent participant icons on different group members' computingdevices. The displayed participant icons may depend on social networkingactivity and affinity between different members. For example, if Amy andChris are friends with each other, but are not friends with any othermembers in the group, Chris's participant icon may always be displayedon Amy's display screen in the participant icon section 521 and viceversa. That way, Chris and Amy may feel like they always have a friendnearby in the group chat. This may raise the level of engagement amongall group chat participants.

Action bar 530 may enable group members to perform various functionsrelated to the group or to the group chat. For example, a group membermay add other group members to the group chat, may make comments thatwill appear in the comment section 540, leave the chat, end the chat,mute their speaker, mute their microphone, or perform any other suitableaction. Some actions on action bar 530 may be limited to certain groupmembers only (e.g., only group administrators or the group member whoinitiated the group chat may invite new group members to the chat orremove group members from the chat).

Comment section 540 may be an area where any group member may postcomments. Comments may comprise text, images, URLs, video, or any othersuitable content. Posting to the comment section may not be limited togroup members who are participating in the chat; any member of the groupmay be able to post in comment section 540. This may be helpful becausegroup members who are not part of the group chat may still contribute orask questions. As an example and not by way of limitation, assume agroup exists called “Breaking Bad Fan Club.” The group may be a virtualspace for group members to discuss theories about the show BREAKING BAD,such as why Walter White poisoned a child with Lily of the Valleyberries instead of ricin, or why Gus wants to kill Walter. Next assumethat Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston agree to do an interview via themultiplex live group communication interface discussed herein. BreakingBad Fan Club group members are invited to view the interview, but not toparticipate with visual or audio input. However, group members may beencouraged to post comments and questions to Gilligan and Cranston incomment section 540. This way, Gilligan, Cranston, and an interviewermay conduct the interview without all the group members from the entireBreaking Bad Fan Club group participating and trying to talk to Gilliganand Cranston.

As another example illustrating how it may be possible to restrictparticipation of a group chat to particular group members, consider thefollowing scenario. There may be a group chat where only certain groupmembers (e.g., moderators) will be able to participate or engage in agroup chat, and those members may then broadcast the chat to the group.The group members may watch the group chat and post comments associatedwith the group chat, but they may not be able to participate in thegroup chat. For example, a group may exist called “Republicans.” TheRepublicans group may include hundreds of thousands of republicans aswell as Republican nomination candidates (e.g., Ted Cruz, Donald Trump,Jon Kasich, etc.). The presidential candidates may have a debate. Thedebate may be broadcast live over group chat. All members of the groupmay watch the debate as a group chat, but not every group member mayparticipate in the group chat. However, all members may be able to postcomments on the group chat.

A group may include designated participants who have special roles. Asan example and not by way of limitation, a group may designate one groupmember to be an administrator, another group member may be designated asa moderator, another as a gatekeeper, and so on. These roles may bepermanent, may change at a particular time, or may be designated for theduration of a particular chat. In addition, roles may be based on topic.For example, in the Quadcopters group, Corey may be the moderator incharge of microcontrollers, so that Corey may review all the contentrelated to microcontrollers that is added to the web page(s) associatedwith the group. Other group members may be in charge of other topics,such as camera-type, batteries, propellers, and the like.

Additionally, group members may have different levels of privilege. Thelevels of privilege may allow some members to perform actions whichother members are not allowed to do. As an example and not by way oflimitation, Amy may have a the privilege of initiating group chats,whereas Chris may not have such a privilege. Privileges could extend toany aspect of the group or group chat, including adding new groupmembers, posting content, initiating or ending group chats, removingmembers from the group, or any other suitable action.

When a group chat with three or more participants is underway, theprimary participant who is speaking (e.g., speaker) will be detected,and the speaker's video stream will appear on the screens of the otherparticipants. While the speaker is speaking, the speaker's own screenmay show either an array of all (or a subset of) the other participantsor a single participant (e.g., the last participant to speak, theinitiator, the participant with whom the speaker has the greatestaffinity, or a designated participant). Group chat participants alsohave the option to view only one participant by selecting to view thatparticipant.

If signal is lost on one or more devices, each device may automaticallytry to reconnect to the same broadcast that the device was on before thesignal was lost. This disclosure also contemplates that a broadcast of avideogame or video footage either uploaded by one of the group membersor streamed from a third party (e.g., Hulu, YouTube, Netflix) could bebroadcast as a group chat. It may be possible to save the group chatboth locally and on the communication system or social-networking systemafter the group chat ends.

There may be multiple group chats occurring simultaneously within thesame group. Group members may have the option to join or leave any groupchat they wish, or to be part of multiple group chats at the same time.Multiple group chats in the same group may be referred to as “channels.”A group member can swipe or click through the channels (e.g., groupchats that are currently happening) and join whichever group chat orchats she wishes.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example interface for conducting a multiplexlive group communication. Interface illustrated in FIG. 6 may includetitle bar 610, video display area 620, participant icons 621, action bar630, and comment section 640. Video display area 620 indicates that Jillis speaking. This may be because the communication system detectedhigher audio signals coming from Jill's computing device, so thecommunication switched display from a different speaker to Jill. As anexample and not by way of limitation, assume that at a first time (e.g.,2 minutes into the group chat), Corey is speaking and the imagescaptured by Corey's active camera are displayed on video display area620. Then Jill interrupts Corey and begins speaking at a second time(e.g., 2 minutes, 30 seconds into the group chat). Because Jill beganspeaking, the communication system switches the source of the imagesdisplayed on video display area 620 to the images captured by Jill'sactive camera.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method 700 for initiating and conducting amultiplex live group communication. The method may begin at step 710,where a computer server operated by the social networking system or thecommunication system receives from a first group member a request toinitiate a multiplex live communication with members of a group, whereinthe first group member belongs to the group. At step 720, the computerserver may send a notification to each of one or more second groupmembers notifying the one or more second group members that a multiplexlive communication among members of the group is underway, wherein theone or more second group members belongs to the group. At step 730, thecomputer server may receive one or more requests from a first subset ofthe one or more second group members to join the multiplex livecommunication. A request to join the multiplex live communication may bea response to the notification sent by the computer server and receivedby the group member. For example, if a group member Chris requests toinitiate the multiplex live communication (e.g., by selecting group chaticon 131), the computer server may send a notification to each member ofthe group that Chris invites to the group chat. The notification mayindicate that another group member has initiated a group chat, and mayask the group member if she wants to join the chat. To continue theabove example, Jill may receive a notification stating, “Chris hasinvited you to a group chat in ‘Quadcopters.’ Would you like to join?”Jill may then have the opportunity to join the group chat, or to denythe request. Jill may also respond with a comment to Chris or to theentire group. For example, if Jill is unable to attend the group chat,she may decline the request and respond with a comment like, “I'm sorryI can't make the chat—I have to watch Downton Abbey right now. Maybenext time!” This may enable Chris or the other group chat participantsto understand that Jill has some other more important matter to attendto. At step 740, the computer server may initiate the multiplex livevideo communication between the first group member and the first subsetof the one or more second group members who requested to join themultiplex live communication. The communication system may determinewhen at least two group chat participants are ready to begin the groupchat, and may begin the multiplex live communication at that time. Atstep 750, the computer server may receive requests from a second subsetof group members to join the multiplex live communication after themultiplex live communication has initiated. This second subset of groupmembers may be a single group member or several group members. Thisrequest from the second subset of group members may result from one ormore group members wishing to join the multiplex live communicationafter it has already started. Group members may be added automatically,or alternatively, may be added a group administrator has approved them,in accordance with one or more group chat settings. In particularembodiments, participants of the multiplex live communication mayreceive notifications that one or more participants either have joinedthe group chat or are requesting to joint the group chat. At step 760,the computer server may add the second subset of group members to themultiplex live communication. Such action may be made in response to agroup administer allowing the second subset of group members to join thegroup chat. Particular embodiments may repeat one or more steps of themethod of FIG. 7, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG. 7 as occurring ina particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps ofthe method of FIG. 7 occurring in any suitable order. Moreover, althoughthis disclosure describes and illustrates an example method forinitiating and conducting a multiplex live group communication includingthe particular steps of the method of FIG. 7, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable method for initiating and conducting amultiplex live group communication including any suitable steps, whichmay include all, some, or none of the steps of the method of FIG. 7,where appropriate. Furthermore, although this disclosure describes andillustrates particular components, devices, or systems carrying outparticular steps of the method of FIG. 7, this disclosure contemplatesany suitable combination of any suitable components, devices, or systemscarrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG. 7.

In particular embodiments, the multiplex live communication may compriseaudio and video communication. In particular embodiments, the multiplexlive communication may comprise only audio communication. In particularembodiments, each group chat participant may have the option toparticipate in the group chat with audio and video enabled, or onlyaudio enabled. This may allow group chat participants who are in transitto participate in the group chat without the visual communicationenabled. As an example, and not by way of limitation, if Todd is invitedto the group chat, but is driving at the time, he may participate in thegroup chat with only the audio enabled, so that he may drive andparticipate in the group chat simultaneously.

In particular embodiments, the method of FIG. 7 may further comprisereceiving one or more requests from a second subset of the one or moresecond group members to join the multiplex live communication, whereinreceiving the one or more requests from the second subset of the one ormore second group members occurs after the multiplex live communicationis already underway, and adding the second subset of the one or moresecond group members to the multiplex live communication. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, if the group chat has already begun andAmy and Bob request to join the group chat after the group chat hasbegun, the communication system may add Amy and Bob to the group chat.

In particular embodiments, the group may comprise the first group memberand the one or more second group members, wherein the first group memberand the one or more second group members have joined the group prior toand independently of any multiplex live communication.

In particular embodiments, the method of FIG. 7 may further comprise bya computer server, accessing a social graph comprising a plurality ofnodes and a plurality of edges connecting the nodes, each of the edgesbetween two of the nodes representing a single degree of separationbetween them, the nodes comprising: a first node corresponding to thefirst group member associated with an online social network, one or moresecond nodes that each correspond to the one or more second groupmembers associated with the online social network, at least one thirdnode corresponding to a concept or group identification associated withthe online social network, wherein the first node and one or more secondnodes are each connected by an edge to the third node.

In particular embodiments, the multiplex live communication may bedisplayed on a plurality of computing devices, each computing devicecorresponding to a member of the group. This may allow group chatparticipants to participate in the group chat in various locations, andmay participate over the network.

In particular embodiments, the method of FIG. 7 may further comprisereceiving audio data and visual data from each of the plurality ofcomputing devices, displaying the visual data from each computing deviceon each computing device, analyzing the audio data and visual data todetermine which member of the group is speaking, and displaying inreal-time on each computing device the visual data captured on a cameraassociated with the computing device corresponding to the member of thegroup determined to be speaking.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example network environment 800 associated with asocial-networking system. Network environment 800 includes a clientsystem 830, a social-networking system 860, and a third-party system 870connected to each other by a network 810. Although FIG. 8 illustrates aparticular arrangement of client system 830, social-networking system860, third-party system 870, and network 810, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable arrangement of client system 830,social-networking system 860, third-party system 870, and network 810.As an example and not by way of limitation, two or more of client system830, social-networking system 860, and third-party system 870 may beconnected to each other directly, bypassing network 810. As anotherexample, two or more of client system 830, social-networking system 860,and third-party system 870 may be physically or logically co-locatedwith each other in whole or in part. Moreover, although FIG. 8illustrates a particular number of client systems 830, social-networkingsystems 860, third-party systems 870, and networks 810, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable number of client systems 830,social-networking systems 860, third-party systems 870, and networks810. As an example and not by way of limitation, network environment 800may include multiple client system 830, social-networking systems 860,third-party systems 870, and networks 810.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable network 810. As an example andnot by way of limitation, one or more portions of network 810 mayinclude an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephone network, or a combinationof two or more of these. Network 810 may include one or more networks810.

Links 850 may connect client system 830, social-networking system 860,and third-party system 870 to communication network 810 or to eachother. This disclosure contemplates any suitable links 850. Inparticular embodiments, one or more links 850 include one or morewireline (such as for example Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Data OverCable Service Interface Specification (DOC SIS)), wireless (such as forexample Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX)), or optical (such as for example Synchronous Optical Network(SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)) links. In particularembodiments, one or more links 850 each include an ad hoc network, anintranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, aportion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a cellulartechnology-based network, a satellite communications technology-basednetwork, another link 850, or a combination of two or more such links850. Links 850 need not necessarily be the same throughout networkenvironment 800. One or more first links 850 may differ in one or morerespects from one or more second links 850.

In particular embodiments, client system 830 may be an electronic deviceincluding hardware, software, or embedded logic components or acombination of two or more such components and capable of carrying outthe appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by clientsystem 830. As an example and not by way of limitation, a client system830 may include a computer system such as a desktop computer, notebookor laptop computer, netbook, a tablet computer, e-book reader, GPSdevice, camera, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld electronicdevice, cellular telephone, smartphone, augmented/virtual realitydevice, other suitable electronic device, or any suitable combinationthereof. This disclosure contemplates any suitable client systems 830. Aclient system 830 may enable a network user at client system 830 toaccess network 810. A client system 830 may enable its user tocommunicate with other users at other client systems 830.

In particular embodiments, client system 830 may include a web browser832, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, GOOGLE CHROME or MOZILLAFIREFOX, and may have one or more add-ons, plug-ins, or otherextensions, such as TOOLBAR or YAHOO TOOLBAR. A user at client system830 may enter a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other addressdirecting the web browser 832 to a particular server (such as server862, or a server associated with a third-party system 870), and the webbrowser 832 may generate a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requestand communicate the HTTP request to server. The server may accept theHTTP request and communicate to client system 830 one or more Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML) files responsive to the HTTP request. Clientsystem 830 may render a webpage based on the HTML files from the serverfor presentation to the user. This disclosure contemplates any suitablewebpage files. As an example and not by way of limitation, webpages mayrender from HTML files, Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language (XHTML)files, or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, according toparticular needs. Such pages may also execute scripts such as, forexample and without limitation, those written in JAVASCRIPT, JAVA,MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT, combinations of markup language and scripts suchas AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT and XML), and the like. Herein,reference to a webpage encompasses one or more corresponding webpagefiles (which a browser may use to render the webpage) and vice versa,where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may be anetwork-addressable computing system that can host an online socialnetwork. Social-networking system 860 may generate, store, receive, andsend social-networking data, such as, for example, user-profile data,concept-profile data, social-graph information, or other suitable datarelated to the online social network. Social-networking system 860 maybe accessed by the other components of network environment 800 eitherdirectly or via network 810. As an example and not by way of limitation,client system 830 may access social-networking system 860 using a webbrowser 832, or a native application associated with social-networkingsystem 860 (e.g., a mobile social-networking application, a messagingapplication, another suitable application, or any combination thereof)either directly or via network 810. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may include one or more servers 862. Eachserver 862 may be a unitary server or a distributed server spanningmultiple computers or multiple datacenters. Servers 862 may be ofvarious types, such as, for example and without limitation, web server,news server, mail server, message server, advertising server, fileserver, application server, exchange server, database server, proxyserver, another server suitable for performing functions or processesdescribed herein, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments,each server 862 may include hardware, software, or embedded logiccomponents or a combination of two or more such components for carryingout the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by server862. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may includeone or more data stores 864. Data stores 864 may be used to storevarious types of information. In particular embodiments, the informationstored in data stores 864 may be organized according to specific datastructures. In particular embodiments, each data store 864 may be arelational, columnar, correlation, or other suitable database. Althoughthis disclosure describes or illustrates particular types of databases,this disclosure contemplates any suitable types of databases. Particularembodiments may provide interfaces that enable a client system 830, asocial-networking system 860, or a third-party system 870 to manage,retrieve, modify, add, or delete, the information stored in data store864.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may store one ormore social graphs in one or more data stores 864. In particularembodiments, a social graph may include multiple nodes—which may includemultiple user nodes (each corresponding to a particular user) ormultiple concept nodes (each corresponding to a particular concept)—andmultiple edges connecting the nodes. Social-networking system 860 mayprovide users of the online social network the ability to communicateand interact with other users. In particular embodiments, users may jointhe online social network via social-networking system 860 and then addconnections (e.g., relationships) to a number of other users ofsocial-networking system 860 to whom they want to be connected. Herein,the term “friend” may refer to any other user of social-networkingsystem 860 with whom a user has formed a connection, association, orrelationship via social-networking system 860.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may provideusers with the ability to take actions on various types of items orobjects, supported by social-networking system 860. As an example andnot by way of limitation, the items and objects may include groups orsocial networks to which users of social-networking system 860 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use, transactions that allowusers to buy or sell items via the service, interactions withadvertisements that a user may perform, or other suitable items orobjects. A user may interact with anything that is capable of beingrepresented in social-networking system 860 or by an external system ofthird-party system 870, which is separate from social-networking system860 and coupled to social-networking system 860 via a network 810.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may be capableof linking a variety of entities. As an example and not by way oflimitation, social-networking system 860 may enable users to interactwith each other as well as receive content from third-party systems 870or other entities, or to allow users to interact with these entitiesthrough an application programming interfaces (API) or othercommunication channels.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 870 may include one ormore types of servers, one or more data stores, one or more interfaces,including but not limited to APIs, one or more web services, one or morecontent sources, one or more networks, or any other suitable components,e.g., that servers may communicate with. A third-party system 870 may beoperated by a different entity from an entity operatingsocial-networking system 860. In particular embodiments, however,social-networking system 860 and third-party systems 870 may operate inconjunction with each other to provide social-networking services tousers of social-networking system 860 or third-party systems 870. Inthis sense, social-networking system 860 may provide a platform, orbackbone, which other systems, such as third-party systems 870, may useto provide social-networking services and functionality to users acrossthe Internet.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 870 may include athird-party content object provider. A third-party content objectprovider may include one or more sources of content objects, which maybe communicated to a client system 830. As an example and not by way oflimitation, content objects may include information regarding things oractivities of interest to the user, such as, for example, movie showtimes, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant menus, productinformation and reviews, or other suitable information. As anotherexample and not by way of limitation, content objects may includeincentive content objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, giftcertificates, or other suitable incentive objects.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 also includesuser-generated content objects, which may enhance a user's interactionswith social-networking system 860. User-generated content may includeanything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” to social-networkingsystem 860. As an example and not by way of limitation, a usercommunicates posts to social-networking system 860 from a client system830. Posts may include data such as status updates or other textualdata, location information, photos, videos, links, music or othersimilar data or media. Content may also be added to social-networkingsystem 860 by a third-party through a “communication channel,” such as anewsfeed or stream.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may include avariety of servers, sub-systems, programs, modules, logs, and datastores. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 mayinclude one or more of the following: a web server, action logger,API-request server, relevance-and-ranking engine, content-objectclassifier, notification controller, action log,third-party-content-object-exposure log, inference module,authorization/privacy server, search module, advertisement-targetingmodule, user-interface module, user-profile store, connection store,third-party content store, or location store. Social-networking system860 may also include suitable components such as network interfaces,security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers,management-and-network-operations consoles, other suitable components,or any suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may include one or more user-profile storesfor storing user profiles. A user profile may include, for example,biographic information, demographic information, behavioral information,social information, or other types of descriptive information, such aswork experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences, interests,affinities, or location. Interest information may include interestsrelated to one or more categories. Categories may be general orspecific. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user “likes”an article about a brand of shoes the category may be the brand, or thegeneral category of “shoes” or “clothing.” A connection store may beused for storing connection information about users. The connectioninformation may indicate users who have similar or common workexperience, group memberships, hobbies, educational history, or are inany way related or share common attributes. The connection informationmay also include user-defined connections between different users andcontent (both internal and external). A web server may be used forlinking social-networking system 860 to one or more client systems 830or one or more third-party system 870 via network 810. The web servermay include a mail server or other messaging functionality for receivingand routing messages between social-networking system 860 and one ormore client systems 830. An API-request server may allow a third-partysystem 870 to access information from social-networking system 860 bycalling one or more APIs. An action logger may be used to receivecommunications from a web server about a user's actions on or offsocial-networking system 860. In conjunction with the action log, athird-party-content-object log may be maintained of user exposures tothird-party-content objects. A notification controller may provideinformation regarding content objects to a client system 830.Information may be pushed to a client system 830 as notifications, orinformation may be pulled from client system 830 responsive to a requestreceived from client system 830. Authorization servers may be used toenforce one or more privacy settings of the users of social-networkingsystem 860. A privacy setting of a user determines how particularinformation associated with a user can be shared. The authorizationserver may allow users to opt in to or opt out of having their actionslogged by social-networking system 860 or shared with other systems(e.g., third-party system 870), such as, for example, by settingappropriate privacy settings. Third-party-content-object stores may beused to store content objects received from third parties, such as athird-party system 870. Location stores may be used for storing locationinformation received from client systems 830 associated with users.Advertisement-pricing modules may combine social information, thecurrent time, location information, or other suitable information toprovide relevant advertisements, in the form of notifications, to auser.

FIG. 9 illustrates example social graph 900. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may store one or more social graphs 900 inone or more data stores. In particular embodiments, social graph 900 mayinclude multiple nodes—which may include multiple user nodes 902 ormultiple concept nodes 904—and multiple edges 906 connecting the nodes.Example social graph 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 is shown, for didacticpurposes, in a two-dimensional visual map representation. In particularembodiments, a social-networking system 860, client system 830, orthird-party system 870 may access social graph 900 and relatedsocial-graph information for suitable applications. The nodes and edgesof social graph 900 may be stored as data objects, for example, in adata store (such as a social-graph database). Such a data store mayinclude one or more searchable or queryable indexes of nodes or edges ofsocial graph 900.

In particular embodiments, a user node 902 may correspond to a user ofsocial-networking system 860. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user may be an individual (human user), an entity (e.g.,an enterprise, business, or third-party application), or a group (e.g.,of individuals or entities) that interacts or communicates with or oversocial-networking system 860. In particular embodiments, when a userregisters for an account with social-networking system 860,social-networking system 860 may create a user node 902 corresponding tothe user, and store the user node 902 in one or more data stores. Usersand user nodes 902 described herein may, where appropriate, refer toregistered users and user nodes 902 associated with registered users. Inaddition or as an alternative, users and user nodes 902 described hereinmay, where appropriate, refer to users that have not registered withsocial-networking system 860. In particular embodiments, a user node 902may be associated with information provided by a user or informationgathered by various systems, including social-networking system 860. Asan example and not by way of limitation, a user may provide his or hername, profile picture, contact information, birth date, sex, maritalstatus, family status, employment, education background, preferences,interests, or other demographic information. In particular embodiments,a user node 902 may be associated with one or more data objectscorresponding to information associated with a user. In particularembodiments, a user node 902 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 904 may correspond to aconcept. As an example and not by way of limitation, a concept maycorrespond to a place (such as, for example, a movie theater,restaurant, landmark, or city); a website (such as, for example, awebsite associated with social-network system 860 or a third-partywebsite associated with a web-application server); an entity (such as,for example, a person, business, group, sports team, or celebrity); aresource (such as, for example, an audio file, video file, digitalphoto, text file, structured document, or application) which may belocated within social-networking system 860 or on an external server,such as a web-application server; real or intellectual property (suchas, for example, a sculpture, painting, movie, game, song, idea,photograph, or written work); a game; an activity; an idea or theory; anobject in a augmented/virtual reality environment; another suitableconcept; or two or more such concepts. A concept node 904 may beassociated with information of a concept provided by a user orinformation gathered by various systems, including social-networkingsystem 860. As an example and not by way of limitation, information of aconcept may include a name or a title; one or more images (e.g., animage of the cover page of a book); a location (e.g., an address or ageographical location); a website (which may be associated with a URL);contact information (e.g., a phone number or an email address); othersuitable concept information; or any suitable combination of suchinformation. In particular embodiments, a concept node 904 may beassociated with one or more data objects corresponding to informationassociated with concept node 904. In particular embodiments, a conceptnode 904 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a node in social graph 900 may represent orbe represented by a webpage (which may be referred to as a “profilepage”). Profile pages may be hosted by or accessible tosocial-networking system 860. Profile pages may also be hosted onthird-party websites associated with a third-party server 870. As anexample and not by way of limitation, a profile page corresponding to aparticular external webpage may be the particular external webpage andthe profile page may correspond to a particular concept node 904.Profile pages may be viewable by all or a selected subset of otherusers. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user node 902 mayhave a corresponding user-profile page in which the corresponding usermay add content, make declarations, or otherwise express himself orherself. As another example and not by way of limitation, a concept node904 may have a corresponding concept-profile page in which one or moreusers may add content, make declarations, or express themselves,particularly in relation to the concept corresponding to concept node904.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 904 may represent athird-party webpage or resource hosted by a third-party system 870. Thethird-party webpage or resource may include, among other elements,content, a selectable or other icon, or other inter-actable object(which may be implemented, for example, in JavaScript, AJAX, or PHPcodes) representing an action or activity. As an example and not by wayof limitation, a third-party webpage may include a selectable icon suchas “like,” “check-in,” “eat,” “recommend,” or another suitable action oractivity. A user viewing the third-party webpage may perform an actionby selecting one of the icons (e.g., “check-in”), causing a clientsystem 830 to send to social-networking system 860 a message indicatingthe user's action. In response to the message, social-networking system860 may create an edge (e.g., a check-in-type edge) between a user node902 corresponding to the user and a concept node 904 corresponding tothe third-party webpage or resource and store edge 906 in one or moredata stores.

In particular embodiments, a pair of nodes in social graph 900 may beconnected to each other by one or more edges 906. An edge 906 connectinga pair of nodes may represent a relationship between the pair of nodes.In particular embodiments, an edge 906 may include or represent one ormore data objects or attributes corresponding to the relationshipbetween a pair of nodes. As an example and not by way of limitation, afirst user may indicate that a second user is a “friend” of the firstuser. In response to this indication, social-networking system 860 maysend a “friend request” to the second user. If the second user confirmsthe “friend request,” social-networking system 860 may create an edge906 connecting the first user's user node 902 to the second user's usernode 902 in social graph 900 and store edge 906 as social-graphinformation in one or more of data stores 864. In the example of FIG. 9,social graph 900 includes an edge 906 indicating a friend relationbetween user nodes 902 of user “A” and user “B” and an edge indicating afriend relation between user nodes 902 of user “C” and user “B.”Although this disclosure describes or illustrates particular edges 906with particular attributes connecting particular user nodes 902, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 906 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 902. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 906 may represent a friendship, family relationship,business or employment relationship, fan relationship (including, e.g.,liking, etc.), follower relationship, visitor relationship (including,e.g., accessing, viewing, checking-in, sharing, etc.), subscriberrelationship, superior/subordinate relationship, reciprocalrelationship, non-reciprocal relationship, another suitable type ofrelationship, or two or more such relationships. Moreover, although thisdisclosure generally describes nodes as being connected, this disclosurealso describes users or concepts as being connected. Herein, referencesto users or concepts being connected may, where appropriate, refer tothe nodes corresponding to those users or concepts being connected insocial graph 900 by one or more edges 906.

In particular embodiments, an edge 906 between a user node 902 and aconcept node 904 may represent a particular action or activity performedby a user associated with user node 902 toward a concept associated witha concept node 904. As an example and not by way of limitation, asillustrated in FIG. 9, a user may “like,” “attended,” “played,”“listened,” “cooked,” “worked at,” or “watched” a concept, each of whichmay correspond to a edge type or subtype. A concept-profile pagecorresponding to a concept node 904 may include, for example, aselectable “check in” icon (such as, for example, a clickable “check in”icon) or a selectable “add to favorites” icon. Similarly, after a userclicks these icons, social-networking system 860 may create a “favorite”edge or a “check in” edge in response to a user's action correspondingto a respective action. As another example and not by way of limitation,a user (user “C”) may listen to a particular song (“Imagine”) using aparticular application (SPOTIFY, which is an online music application).In this case, social-networking system 860 may create a “listened” edge906 and a “used” edge (as illustrated in FIG. 9) between user nodes 902corresponding to the user and concept nodes 904 corresponding to thesong and application to indicate that the user listened to the song andused the application. Moreover, social-networking system 860 may createa “played” edge 906 (as illustrated in FIG. 9) between concept nodes 904corresponding to the song and the application to indicate that theparticular song was played by the particular application. In this case,“played” edge 906 corresponds to an action performed by an externalapplication (SPOTIFY) on an external audio file (the song “Imagine”).Although this disclosure describes particular edges 906 with particularattributes connecting user nodes 902 and concept nodes 904, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 906 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 902 and concept nodes 904. Moreover,although this disclosure describes edges between a user node 902 and aconcept node 904 representing a single relationship, this disclosurecontemplates edges between a user node 902 and a concept node 904representing one or more relationships. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 906 may represent both that a user likes and hasused at a particular concept. Alternatively, another edge 906 mayrepresent each type of relationship (or multiples of a singlerelationship) between a user node 902 and a concept node 904 (asillustrated in FIG. 9 between user node 902 for user “E” and conceptnode 904 for “SPOTIFY”).

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may create anedge 906 between a user node 902 and a concept node 904 in social graph900. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user viewing aconcept-profile page (such as, for example, by using a web browser or aspecial-purpose application hosted by the user's client system 830) mayindicate that he or she likes the concept represented by the conceptnode 904 by clicking or selecting a “Like” icon, which may cause theuser's client system 830 to send to social-networking system 860 amessage indicating the user's liking of the concept associated with theconcept-profile page. In response to the message, social-networkingsystem 860 may create an edge 906 between user node 902 associated withthe user and concept node 904, as illustrated by “like” edge 906 betweenthe user and concept node 904. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may store an edge 906 in one or more datastores. In particular embodiments, an edge 906 may be automaticallyformed by social-networking system 860 in response to a particular useraction. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first useruploads a picture, watches a movie, or listens to a song, an edge 906may be formed between user node 902 corresponding to the first user andconcept nodes 904 corresponding to those concepts. Although thisdisclosure describes forming particular edges 906 in particular manners,this disclosure contemplates forming any suitable edges 906 in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, two or more users may be connected to eachother by way of membership to the same group in an online socialnetwork. This may be the only connection the two users have with eachother. As an example and not by way of limitation, if Corey and Todd areboth members of the “Quadcopters” group, a social graph may indicate afirst user node associated with Corey, and a second user node associatedwith Todd. The social graph may also indicate a third node—a conceptnode, associated with the Quadcopters group. The social graph mayfurther indicate an edge connecting the Quadcopter concept node toTodd's user node, indicating that Todd is a member of the Quadcoptergroup. The social graph may further indicate another edge connecting theQuadcopter concept node to Corey's user node, indicating that Corey is amember of the Quadcopter group. Thus, the social graph may indicate thatCorey and Todd are both members of the Quadcopter group, and thatCorey's user node and Todd's user node are connected to each other viathe Quadcopter concept node.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may determinethe social-graph affinity (which may be referred to herein as“affinity”) of various social-graph entities for each other. Affinitymay represent the strength of a relationship or level of interestbetween particular objects associated with the online social network,such as users, concepts, content, actions, advertisements, other objectsassociated with the online social network, or any suitable combinationthereof. Affinity may also be determined with respect to objectsassociated with third-party systems 870 or other suitable systems. Anoverall affinity for a social-graph entity for each user, subjectmatter, or type of content may be established. The overall affinity maychange based on continued monitoring of the actions or relationshipsassociated with the social-graph entity. Although this disclosuredescribes determining particular affinities in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates determining any suitable affinities in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may measure orquantify social-graph affinity using an affinity coefficient (which maybe referred to herein as “coefficient”). The coefficient may representor quantify the strength of a relationship between particular objectsassociated with the online social network. The coefficient may alsorepresent a probability or function that measures a predictedprobability that a user will perform a particular action based on theuser's interest in the action. In this way, a user's future actions maybe predicted based on the user's prior actions, where the coefficientmay be calculated at least in part a the history of the user's actions.Coefficients may be used to predict any number of actions, which may bewithin or outside of the online social network. As an example and not byway of limitation, these actions may include various types ofcommunications, such as sending messages, posting content, or commentingon content; various types of a observation actions, such as accessing orviewing profile pages, media, or other suitable content; various typesof coincidence information about two or more social-graph entities, suchas being in the same group, tagged in the same photograph, checked-in atthe same location, or attending the same event; or other suitableactions. Although this disclosure describes measuring affinity in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates measuring affinity inany suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may use avariety of factors to calculate a coefficient. These factors mayinclude, for example, user actions, types of relationships betweenobjects, location information, other suitable factors, or anycombination thereof. In particular embodiments, different factors may beweighted differently when calculating the coefficient. The weights foreach factor may be static or the weights may change according to, forexample, the user, the type of relationship, the type of action, theuser's location, and so forth. Ratings for the factors may be combinedaccording to their weights to determine an overall coefficient for theuser. As an example and not by way of limitation, particular useractions may be assigned both a rating and a weight while a relationshipassociated with the particular user action is assigned a rating and acorrelating weight (e.g., so the weights total 100%). To calculate thecoefficient of a user towards a particular object, the rating assignedto the user's actions may comprise, for example, 60% of the overallcoefficient, while the relationship between the user and the object maycomprise 40% of the overall coefficient. In particular embodiments, thesocial-networking system 860 may consider a variety of variables whendetermining weights for various factors used to calculate a coefficient,such as, for example, the time since information was accessed, decayfactors, frequency of access, relationship to information orrelationship to the object about which information was accessed,relationship to social-graph entities connected to the object, short- orlong-term averages of user actions, user feedback, other suitablevariables, or any combination thereof. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a coefficient may include a decay factor that causes thestrength of the signal provided by particular actions to decay withtime, such that more recent actions are more relevant when calculatingthe coefficient. The ratings and weights may be continuously updatedbased on continued tracking of the actions upon which the coefficient isbased. Any type of process or algorithm may be employed for assigning,combining, averaging, and so forth the ratings for each factor and theweights assigned to the factors. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may determine coefficients usingmachine-learning algorithms trained on historical actions and past userresponses, or data farmed from users by exposing them to various optionsand measuring responses. Although this disclosure describes calculatingcoefficients in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplatescalculating coefficients in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may calculate acoefficient based on a user's actions. Social-networking system 860 maymonitor such actions on the online social network, on a third-partysystem 870, on other suitable systems, or any combination thereof. Anysuitable type of user actions may be tracked or monitored. Typical useractions include viewing profile pages, creating or posting content,interacting with content, tagging or being tagged in images, joininggroups, listing and confirming attendance at events, checking-in atlocations, liking particular pages, creating pages, and performing othertasks that facilitate social action. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may calculate a coefficient based on theuser's actions with particular types of content. The content may beassociated with the online social network, a third-party system 870, oranother suitable system. The content may include users, profile pages,posts, news stories, headlines, instant messages, chat roomconversations, emails, advertisements, pictures, video, music, othersuitable objects, or any combination thereof. Social-networking system860 may analyze a user's actions to determine whether one or more of theactions indicate an affinity for subject matter, content, other users,and so forth. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user maymake frequently posts content related to “coffee” or variants thereof,social-networking system 860 may determine the user has a highcoefficient with respect to the concept “coffee”. Particular actions ortypes of actions may be assigned a higher weight and/or rating thanother actions, which may affect the overall calculated coefficient. Asan example and not by way of limitation, if a first user emails a seconduser, the weight or the rating for the action may be higher than if thefirst user simply views the user-profile page for the second user.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may calculate acoefficient based on the type of relationship between particularobjects. Referencing the social graph 900, social-networking system 860may analyze the number and/or type of edges 906 connecting particularuser nodes 902 and concept nodes 904 when calculating a coefficient. Asan example and not by way of limitation, user nodes 902 that areconnected by a spouse-type edge (representing that the two users aremarried) may be assigned a higher coefficient than a user nodes 902 thatare connected by a friend-type edge. In other words, depending upon theweights assigned to the actions and relationships for the particularuser, the overall affinity may be determined to be higher for contentabout the user's spouse than for content about the user's friend. Inparticular embodiments, the relationships a user has with another objectmay affect the weights and/or the ratings of the user's actions withrespect to calculating the coefficient for that object. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, if a user is tagged in first photo, butmerely likes a second photo, social-networking system 860 may determinethat the user has a higher coefficient with respect to the first photothan the second photo because having a tagged-in-type relationship withcontent may be assigned a higher weight and/or rating than having alike-type relationship with content. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may calculate a coefficient for a firstuser based on the relationship one or more second users have with aparticular object. In other words, the connections and coefficientsother users have with an object may affect the first user's coefficientfor the object. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a firstuser is connected to or has a high coefficient for one or more secondusers, and those second users are connected to or have a highcoefficient for a particular object, social-networking system 860 maydetermine that the first user should also have a relatively highcoefficient for the particular object. In particular embodiments, thecoefficient may be based on the degree of separation between particularobjects. The lower coefficient may represent the decreasing likelihoodthat the first user will share an interest in content objects of theuser that is indirectly connected to the first user in the social graph900. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-graph entitiesthat are closer in the social graph 900 (i.e., fewer degrees ofseparation) may have a higher coefficient than entities that are furtherapart in the social graph 900.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may calculate acoefficient based on location information. Objects that aregeographically closer to each other may be considered to be more relatedor of more interest to each other than more distant objects. Inparticular embodiments, the coefficient of a user towards a particularobject may be based on the proximity of the object's location to acurrent location associated with the user (or the location of a clientsystem 830 of the user). A first user may be more interested in otherusers or concepts that are closer to the first user. As an example andnot by way of limitation, if a user is one mile from an airport and twomiles from a gas station, social-networking system 860 may determinethat the user has a higher coefficient for the airport than the gasstation based on the proximity of the airport to the user.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may performparticular actions with respect to a user based on coefficientinformation. Coefficients may be used to predict whether a user willperform a particular action based on the user's interest in the action.A coefficient may be used when generating or presenting any type ofobjects to a user, such as advertisements, search results, news stories,media, messages, notifications, or other suitable objects. Thecoefficient may also be utilized to rank and order such objects, asappropriate. In this way, social-networking system 860 may provideinformation that is relevant to user's interests and currentcircumstances, increasing the likelihood that they will find suchinformation of interest. In particular embodiments, social-networkingsystem 860 may generate content based on coefficient information.Content objects may be provided or selected based on coefficientsspecific to a user. As an example and not by way of limitation, thecoefficient may be used to generate media for the user, where the usermay be presented with media for which the user has a high overallcoefficient with respect to the media object. As another example and notby way of limitation, the coefficient may be used to generateadvertisements for the user, where the user may be presented withadvertisements for which the user has a high overall coefficient withrespect to the advertised object. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 860 may generate search results based oncoefficient information. Search results for a particular user may bescored or ranked based on the coefficient associated with the searchresults with respect to the querying user. As an example and not by wayof limitation, search results corresponding to objects with highercoefficients may be ranked higher on a search-results page than resultscorresponding to objects having lower coefficients.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 860 may calculate acoefficient in response to a request for a coefficient from a particularsystem or process. To predict the likely actions a user may take (or maybe the subject of) in a given situation, any process may request acalculated coefficient for a user. The request may also include a set ofweights to use for various factors used to calculate the coefficient.This request may come from a process running on the online socialnetwork, from a third-party system 870 (e.g., via an API or othercommunication channel), or from another suitable system. In response tothe request, social-networking system 860 may calculate the coefficient(or access the coefficient information if it has previously beencalculated and stored). In particular embodiments, social-networkingsystem 860 may measure an affinity with respect to a particular process.Different processes (both internal and external to the online socialnetwork) may request a coefficient for a particular object or set ofobjects. Social-networking system 860 may provide a measure of affinitythat is relevant to the particular process that requested the measure ofaffinity. In this way, each process receives a measure of affinity thatis tailored for the different context in which the process will use themeasure of affinity.

In connection with social-graph affinity and affinity coefficients,particular embodiments may utilize one or more systems, components,elements, functions, methods, operations, or steps disclosed in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/503,093, filed 11 Aug. 2006, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/977,027, filed 22 Dec. 2010, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/978,265, filed 23 Dec. 2010, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/632,869, filed 1 Oct. 2012, each of which isincorporated by reference.

In particular embodiments, one or more of the content objects of theonline social network may be associated with a privacy setting. Theprivacy settings (or “access settings”) for an object may be stored inany suitable manner, such as, for example, in association with theobject, in an index on an authorization server, in another suitablemanner, or any combination thereof. A privacy setting of an object mayspecify how the object (or particular information associated with anobject) can be accessed (e.g., viewed or shared) using the online socialnetwork. Where the privacy settings for an object allow a particularuser to access that object, the object may be described as being“visible” with respect to that user. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user of the online social network may specify privacysettings for a user-profile page that identify a set of users that mayaccess the work experience information on the user-profile page, thusexcluding other users from accessing the information. In particularembodiments, the privacy settings may specify a “blocked list” of usersthat should not be allowed to access certain information associated withthe object. In other words, the blocked list may specify one or moreusers or entities for which an object is not visible. As an example andnot by way of limitation, a user may specify a set of users that may notaccess photos albums associated with the user, thus excluding thoseusers from accessing the photo albums (while also possibly allowingcertain users not within the set of users to access the photo albums).In particular embodiments, privacy settings may be associated withparticular social-graph elements. Privacy settings of a social-graphelement, such as a node or an edge, may specify how the social-graphelement, information associated with the social-graph element, orcontent objects associated with the social-graph element can be accessedusing the online social network. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a particular concept node 204 corresponding to a particularphoto may have a privacy setting specifying that the photo may only beaccessed by users tagged in the photo and their friends. In particularembodiments, privacy settings may allow users to opt in or opt out ofhaving their actions logged by social-networking system 860 or sharedwith other systems (e.g., third-party system 870). In particularembodiments, the privacy settings associated with an object may specifyany suitable granularity of permitted access or denial of access. As anexample and not by way of limitation, access or denial of access may bespecified for particular users (e.g., only me, my roommates, and myboss), users within a particular degrees-of-separation (e.g., friends,or friends-of-friends), user groups (e.g., the gaming club, my family),user networks (e.g., employees of particular employers, students oralumni of particular university), all users (“public”), no users(“private”), users of third-party systems 870, particular applications(e.g., third-party applications, external websites), other suitableusers or entities, or any combination thereof. Although this disclosuredescribes using particular privacy settings in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates using any suitable privacy settings in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, one or more servers 862 may beauthorization/privacy servers for enforcing privacy settings. Inresponse to a request from a user (or other entity) for a particularobject stored in a data store 864, social-networking system 860 may senda request to the data store 864 for the object. The request may identifythe user associated with the request and may only be sent to the user(or a client system 830 of the user) if the authorization serverdetermines that the user is authorized to access the object based on theprivacy settings associated with the object. If the requesting user isnot authorized to access the object, the authorization server mayprevent the requested object from being retrieved from the data store864, or may prevent the requested object from be sent to the user. Inthe search query context, an object may only be generated as a searchresult if the querying user is authorized to access the object. In otherwords, the object must have a visibility that is visible to the queryinguser. If the object has a visibility that is not visible to the user,the object may be excluded from the search results. Although thisdisclosure describes enforcing privacy settings in a particular manner,this disclosure contemplates enforcing privacy settings in any suitablemanner.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example computer system 1000. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 1000 perform one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 1000 provide functionalitydescribed or illustrated herein. In particular embodiments, softwarerunning on one or more computer systems 1000 performs one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein or providesfunctionality described or illustrated herein. Particular embodimentsinclude one or more portions of one or more computer systems 1000.Herein, reference to a computer system may encompass a computing device,and vice versa, where appropriate. Moreover, reference to a computersystem may encompass one or more computer systems, where appropriate.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems1000. This disclosure contemplates computer system 1000 taking anysuitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation,computer system 1000 may be an embedded computer system, asystem-on-chip (SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, forexample, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), adesktop computer system, a laptop or notebook computer system, aninteractive kiosk, a mainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobiletelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a server, a tabletcomputer system, an augmented/virtual reality device, or a combinationof two or more of these. Where appropriate, computer system 1000 mayinclude one or more computer systems 1000; be unitary or distributed;span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple datacenters; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloudcomponents in one or more networks. Where appropriate, one or morecomputer systems 1000 may perform without substantial spatial ortemporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods describedor illustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, oneor more computer systems 1000 may perform in real time or in batch modeone or more steps of one or more methods described or illustratedherein. One or more computer systems 1000 may perform at different timesor at different locations one or more steps of one or more methodsdescribed or illustrated herein, where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, computer system 1000 includes a processor1002, memory 1004, storage 1006, an input/output (I/O) interface 1008, acommunication interface 1010, and a bus 1012. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates a particular computer system having aparticular number of particular components in a particular arrangement,this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having anysuitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.

In particular embodiments, processor 1002 includes hardware forexecuting instructions, such as those making up a computer program. Asan example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions,processor 1002 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internalregister, an internal cache, memory 1004, or storage 1006; decode andexecute them; and then write one or more results to an internalregister, an internal cache, memory 1004, or storage 1006. In particularembodiments, processor 1002 may include one or more internal caches fordata, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor1002 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches,where appropriate. As an example and not by way of limitation, processor1002 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more datacaches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs).Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions inmemory 1004 or storage 1006, and the instruction caches may speed upretrieval of those instructions by processor 1002. Data in the datacaches may be copies of data in memory 1004 or storage 1006 forinstructions executing at processor 1002 to operate on; the results ofprevious instructions executed at processor 1002 for access bysubsequent instructions executing at processor 1002 or for writing tomemory 1004 or storage 1006; or other suitable data. The data caches mayspeed up read or write operations by processor 1002. The TLBs may speedup virtual-address translation for processor 1002. In particularembodiments, processor 1002 may include one or more internal registersfor data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplatesprocessor 1002 including any suitable number of any suitable internalregisters, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 1002 mayinclude one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-coreprocessor; or include one or more processors 1002. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable processor.

In particular embodiments, memory 1004 includes main memory for storinginstructions for processor 1002 to execute or data for processor 1002 tooperate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system1000 may load instructions from storage 1006 or another source (such as,for example, another computer system 1000) to memory 1004. Processor1002 may then load the instructions from memory 1004 to an internalregister or internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 1002may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internalcache and decode them. During or after execution of the instructions,processor 1002 may write one or more results (which may be intermediateor final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor1002 may then write one or more of those results to memory 1004. Inparticular embodiments, processor 1002 executes only instructions in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 1004 (asopposed to storage 1006 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 1004 (asopposed to storage 1006 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (whichmay each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor1002 to memory 1004. Bus 1012 may include one or more memory buses, asdescribed below. In particular embodiments, one or more memorymanagement units (MMUs) reside between processor 1002 and memory 1004and facilitate accesses to memory 1004 requested by processor 1002. Inparticular embodiments, memory 1004 includes random access memory (RAM).This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate,this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, whereappropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 1004 may include one ormore memories 1004, where appropriate. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable memory.

In particular embodiments, storage 1006 includes mass storage for dataor instructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage1006 may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flashmemory, an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or aUniversal Serial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more ofthese. Storage 1006 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed)media, where appropriate. Storage 1006 may be internal or external tocomputer system 1000, where appropriate. In particular embodiments,storage 1006 is non-volatile, solid-state memory. In particularembodiments, storage 1006 includes read-only memory (ROM). Whereappropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM(PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM),electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination oftwo or more of these. This disclosure contemplates mass storage 1006taking any suitable physical form. Storage 1006 may include one or morestorage control units facilitating communication between processor 1002and storage 1006, where appropriate. Where appropriate, storage 1006 mayinclude one or more storages 1006. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates anysuitable storage.

In particular embodiments, I/O interface 1008 includes hardware,software, or both, providing one or more interfaces for communicationbetween computer system 1000 and one or more I/O devices. Computersystem 1000 may include one or more of these I/O devices, whereappropriate. One or more of these I/O devices may enable communicationbetween a person and computer system 1000. As an example and not by wayof limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone,monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet,touch screen, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or acombination of two or more of these. An I/O device may include one ormore sensors. This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices andany suitable I/O interfaces 1008 for them. Where appropriate, I/Ointerface 1008 may include one or more device or software driversenabling processor 1002 to drive one or more of these I/O devices. I/Ointerface 1008 may include one or more I/O interfaces 1008, whereappropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates aparticular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/Ointerface.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 1010 includeshardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces forcommunication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) betweencomputer system 1000 and one or more other computer systems 1000 or oneor more networks. As an example and not by way of limitation,communication interface 1010 may include a network interface controller(NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or otherwire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter forcommunicating with a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitablecommunication interface 1010 for it. As an example and not by way oflimitation, computer system 1000 may communicate with an ad hoc network,a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or moreportions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these. Oneor more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired orwireless. As an example, computer system 1000 may communicate with awireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FInetwork, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, forexample, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), orother suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more ofthese. Computer system 1000 may include any suitable communicationinterface 1010 for any of these networks, where appropriate.Communication interface 1010 may include one or more communicationinterfaces 1010, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates a particular communication interface, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable communication interface.

In particular embodiments, bus 1012 includes hardware, software, or bothcoupling components of computer system 1000 to each other. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, bus 1012 may include an AcceleratedGraphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry StandardArchitecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT)interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBANDinterconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro ChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, aPCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, oranother suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 1012may include one or more buses 1012, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.

Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media mayinclude one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits(ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) orapplication-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid harddrives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs),magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppydisk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs),RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitablecomputer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitablecombination of two or more of these, where appropriate. Acomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile,non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, whereappropriate.

Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicatedotherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B”means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicatedotherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unlessexpressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,”unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.

The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsdescribed or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill inthe art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited tothe example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover,although this disclosure describes and illustrates respectiveembodiments herein as including particular components, elements,feature, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments mayinclude any combination or permutation of any of the components,elements, features, functions, operations, or steps described orillustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in theart would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims toan apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system beingadapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operableto, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses thatapparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particularfunction is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as thatapparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable,configured, enabled, operable, or operative. Additionally, although thisdisclosure describes or illustrates particular embodiments as providingparticular advantages, particular embodiments may provide none, some, orall of these advantages.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising, by one or more computingdevices: receiving, from a first group member of a plurality of groupmembers associated with a group, a request to initiate a multiplex livecommunication and a selection of one or more second group members fromthe plurality of group members, wherein each group member of theplurality of group members is associated with a privilege level from aplurality of privilege levels associated with the group; determiningwhether the first group member is authorized to initiate the multiplexlive communication based on the privilege level associated with thefirst group member; sending, responsive to determining that the firstgroup member is authorized to initiate the multiplex live communication,a notification to each of the selected second group members, thenotification comprising an invitation to the selected second groupmembers to join a multiplex live communication with the first groupmember; receiving, from one or more of the second selected groupmembers, an indication that the respective second selected group memberhas accepted the invitation to join the multiplex live communication;and adding each second group member who has accepted the invitation tothe multiplex live communication.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein themultiplex live communication comprises audio and video communication. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the multiplex live communicationcomprises only audio communication.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: sending a notification to one or more third group members ofthe plurality of group members, the notification comprising anindication that a multiplex live communication is underway; receiving,from each of one or more of the third group members, a request to jointhe multiplex live communication; and adding the one or more third groupmembers to the multiplex live communication.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the first group member and the one or more second group membershave joined the group prior to and independently of any multiplex livecommunication.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: accessing asocial graph comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edgesconnecting the nodes, each of the edges between two of the nodesrepresenting a single degree of separation between them, the nodescomprising: a first node corresponding to the first group memberassociated with an online social network; one or more second nodes thateach correspond to the one or more second group members associated withthe online social network; one or more third nodes corresponding to oneor more concepts or group identifications associated with the onlinesocial network, wherein the first node and the one or more second nodesare each connected by an edge to one of the third node.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the multiplex live communication is displayed on aplurality of client devices, each client device corresponding to amember of the group.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:receiving audio data and visual data from each of the plurality ofclient devices; displaying the visual data from each client device oneach client device; analyzing the audio data and visual data todetermine which member of the group is speaking; and displaying inreal-time on each client device the visual data captured on a cameraassociated with the client device corresponding to the member of thegroup determined to be speaking.
 9. One or more computer-readablenon-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable whenexecuted to: receive, from a first group member of a plurality of groupmembers associated with a group, a request to initiate a multiplex livecommunication and a selection of one or more second group members fromthe plurality of group members, wherein each group member of theplurality of group members is associated with a privilege level from aplurality of privilege levels associated with the group; determinewhether the first group member is authorized to initiate the multiplexlive communication based on the privilege level associated with thefirst group member; send, in response to determining that the firstgroup member is authorized to initiate the multiplex live communication,a notification to each of the selected second group members, thenotification comprising an invitation to the selected second groupmembers to join a multiplex live communication with the first groupmember; receive, from one or more of the second selected group members,an indication that the respective second selected group member hasaccepted the invitation to join the multiplex live communication; addeach second group member who has accepted the invitation to themultiplex live communication.
 10. The media of claim 9, wherein themultiplex live communication comprises audio and video communication.11. The media of claim 9, wherein the multiplex live communicationcomprises only audio communication.
 12. The media of claim 9, whereinthe software is further operable when executed to: send a notificationto one or more third group members of the plurality of group members,the notification comprising an indication that a multiplex livecommunication is underway; receive, from each of one or more of thethird group members, a request to join the multiplex live communication;and add the one or more third group members to the multiplex livecommunication.
 13. The media of claim 9, wherein the first group memberand the one or more second group members have joined the group prior toand independently of any multiplex live communication.
 14. The media ofclaim 9, wherein the software is further operable when executed to:access a social graph comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality ofedges connecting the nodes, each of the edges between two of the nodesrepresenting a single degree of separation between them, the nodescomprising: a first node corresponding to the first group memberassociated with an online social network; one or more second nodes thateach correspond to the one or more second group members associated withthe online social network; one or more third nodes corresponding to oneor more concepts or group identifications associated with the onlinesocial network, wherein the first node and the one or more second nodesare each connected by an edge to one of the third node.
 15. The media ofclaim 9, wherein the multiplex live communication is displayed on aplurality of client devices, each client device corresponding to amember of the group.
 16. The media of claim 9, wherein the software isfurther operable when executed to: receive audio data and visual datafrom each of the plurality of client devices; display the visual datafrom each client device on each client device; analyze the audio dataand visual data to determine which member of the group is speaking; anddisplay in real-time on each client device the visual data captured on acamera associated with the client device corresponding to the member ofthe group determined to be speaking.
 17. A system comprising: one ormore processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprisinginstructions executable by the processors, the processors being operablewhen executing the instructions to: receive, from a first group memberof a plurality of group members associated with a group, a request toinitiate a multiplex live communication and a selection of one or moresecond group members from the plurality of group members, wherein eachgroup member of the plurality of group members is associated with aprivilege level from a plurality of privilege levels associated with thegroup; determine whether the first group member is authorized toinitiate the multiplex live communication based on the privilege levelassociated with the first group member; send, in response to determiningthat the first group member is authorized to initiate the multiplex livecommunication, a notification to each of the selected second groupmembers, the notification comprising an invitation to the selectedsecond group members to join a multiplex live communication with thefirst group member; receive, from one or more of the second selectedgroup members, an indication that the respective second selected groupmember has accepted the invitation to join the multiplex livecommunication; add each second group member who has accepted theinvitation to the multiplex live communication.
 18. The system of claim17, wherein the multiplex live communication comprises audio and videocommunication.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the multiplex livecommunication comprises only audio communication.
 20. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the processors are further operable when executing theinstructions to: send a notification to one or more third group membersof the plurality of group members, the notification comprising anindication that a multiplex live communication is underway; receive,from each of one or more of the third group members, a request to jointhe multiplex live communication; and add the one or more third groupmembers to the multiplex live communication.